Australia has experienced a 37 per cent decrease in the number of financial services job opportunities in the second quarter of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011, according to the latest eFinancialCareers survey.
The eFinancialCareers Quarterly Job Barometer found Australian financial services job growth was still behind the rest of the Asia-Pacific region, with Singapore and Hong Kong registering -3 per cent and -18 per cent respectively over the period.
Specifically, financial planning and superannuation in Australia remained comparatively stable, although hiring was still lower than last year.
"We expect similar trends over the coming months, although a few more opportunities in risk should open up at both banks and consulting firms, thanks largely to the introduction of Basel III," eFinancialCareers Asia-Pacific managing director George McFerran said.
New vacancies and small-scale redundancies continued to take place, particularly in research roles, the survey said.
Investment banking jobs remained quiet in the second quarter, however, there was positive recruitment in Australia's natural resources and infrastructure sectors.
The top-performing sectors in the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia, that experienced the highest quarter-on-quarter growth were asset management, reaching 28 per cent, information services at 26 per cent and operations at 15 per cent.
Compared to banks, asset management firms were proportionally less affected by recent retrenchments in the region, the survey said.
"Recruitment in investment banking is generally stagnant, with some buy-side firms opportunistically taking on bankers keen for a career change into a potentially more stable, less hierarchical environment," it said.
The bottom-performing sectors were equities, trading and derivatives.
